( h I < »BER lO. 



NATURE 



105 



mon Kriti-.li beetles and spiders. In dealing with 



I group he gives first ;i short general account 

 hi structure and h;il>ii ->, next an outline classifica- 



families, and then a list ol s >me 

 common species with characteristics so superfici- 

 ally described thai thi 'How to Identif) 



II " contained in the title cannot be con- 

 sidered .is fulfilled. The 228 beetles chosen for 

 listing are illustrated b) natural-size photographs, 

 must ol' u hich lire to be of use. The 

 larger photographs ol some selected spiders, sup- 

 plemented by four plates ol outline drawings, an 

 less unsatisfactory, bul the front-view portrait on 

 p. 50 lettered "Wolf-spider" is evidentl) taken 



1 .1 jumping-spider (Salticid). The classifica- 

 tion and nomenclature adopted for both spiders 

 .ml beetles are those of the naturalists of fifty 

 years ago. 



Canning and Bottling, with Votes on other Simple 

 'Fruit and I egetables. 

 |i\ Dr. II. P. Goodrich. With an Introduction 

 by Prof. Frederick Keeble. Pp. xH 70. (Lon- 

 don: Longmans, Green, and( o., [918.) Price 2s. 

 K spite of its modest size, this book contains a 

 great deal of valuable information on bottling, 

 canning, pulping, drying, and salting vegetables 

 and fruit. In the first part of the book the author 

 ribes fully practical methods, while in the 

 ■m1 pari a brief accouni ol the behaviour of 

 bacteria and fungi, the micro-organisms which 

 have to be fought b) the preserver of fruit and 

 vegetables, is given. The canning of fruit, which 

 is extremely popular in America, but comparatively 

 little used by amateurs in this country, is warmly 

 mmended in regard both to the flavour and 

 quality of the products and to the rapidity and 

 simplicity with which the wo 1 arried out. 



The tear of tin and of ptomaine poisoning, which 

 has prevented some peopli from canning vege- 

 tables, is shown to be entireh groundless. 



The Stars, and How to Idenl fy Them. By E. 



Walter Maunder. Pp. 64. (1 ondon ; Charles H. 



Kelly, 11. d.) 



fin war has renewed interest in the constellations 



tides for night-march i . and several 



handbooks have been published for this purpose. 



Mr. Maunder gives here in a I 1 'I form much 



nt 1 1 • ' Astn momy 



of the Bible " ancl his num< pers on early 



Babylonian astronomy. 



The constellations of the entire celestial sphere 

 shown in twenty-six clear] rinted maps; the 

 constellation figures art not drawn, but the stars 

 ; e . 1 mnected b\ thin lines, « hich 

 in mam 1 ases give some rough idea of the object 

 of which it bears. A summary of the 

 nt myths relating to the grouping of the con- 

 stellations is given, as affording a useful aid to 

 the memory regarding their mutual configuration. 

 Four northern and one southi n maps indicate 



the positions of the constellation at the various 

 seasons. Andrew C. D. Crommelin. 



NO. -554- VOL. 102] 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 

 [The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 

 opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 

 can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 

 the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 

 this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 

 taken of anonymous communications.] 



Observations of Nova Aquilse in India. 

 In Nature of June 13 1 note that arliest 



observation ol Nova Aquilae in England 

 bj Miss Grace C01 ■ m I an d 



the magnitude was estimated as equal to In 



India the star was seen and recognised as 

 about five hours earlier i>\ Mr. G. N. Bower in 

 Madi as, « ho has sent me his 01 iginai notes ma 

 in p.m. Indian Standard Time on June 8 (corresj 

 ing with 4.30 p.m. G.M.T.). Mr. Bower was 

 occupied in pointing oul the principal stars and con- 

 stellations i" .1 friend, and identifying them with the 

 aid df Mrs. Evershed's "Guide to the Southern Stars." 

 Turning to the eastern sky, he at once saw a star on 

 the borders of Aquila and Serpens which he could 



not place. It appealed to be as bright as Allair, or 



possibly brighter, but not so bright or white as Vega. 



Allair was, however, unfavourably placed for thi 

 comparison. 



At Jhelum, North India, the star was independently 

 discovered on lune g, 3.30 a.m. I.S.T. (10 p.m.", 

 June 8, G.M/T.), by Mr. C. L. Dundas, I.C.S., who 

 kindh advised me by telegram of his observation. 

 He also estimated it as equal to Altair, but at the 

 came time on the following night "it was apparently 

 equal to Vega." 



At Kodaikanal I was photographing the spectrum 

 of Venus on the morning of June 8, and can state 

 with some confidence that the nova had not then 

 appeared, or perhaps it would be safer to say that it 

 had not risen above the second magnitude. The sky 

 was exceptionally clear that morning, and the brilliance 

 nf the Milky Way attracted special attention between 

 4 a.m. and dawn, about an hour later. Mrs. Evershed 

 and myself were both observing the Milky Way, and 

 both had the possibility of detecting novae at the back 

 of our minds. This narrows down the timi 1 ' 

 outburst to between 11 p.m. G.M.T. on June 7 and 

 4 p.m. G.M.T. June 8. 



1 he spectrum of the nova has been studied here in 

 some detail, thanks to the partial failure of the mon- 

 soon in Southern India, which resulted in a good 

 number of fairly clear nights from earl;, in June to 

 tin middle of July. Two series of spectrum photo- 

 graphs were obtained simultaneously — a large-scale 

 with a 6-in. prismatic camera, and a sm.ill- 

 series with a •-in. prismatic camera, the lattei 

 showing 1 on in the ulira-\ inlet. By 



a special arran ol the apparatus I was able to 



photograph 1 spectrum of Arcturus ac- 



curate!) aligned with the nova, so that the wave- 

 lengths in the nova spectrum have been determined 

 by referenci to lines in Arcturus 



On tin ni 1 11 12-13 ar, d I3~I4 many of the 



absorption lim in the nova appeared to be in dupli- 



in, I then are 1 w series of hydt ogen ibsi 

 lines, both - lormousl) displaced towards violet; 

 wider.more refrangible series in H/?,Hy,and H 

 a mean displacement corresponding with 2700 

 whilst tin comparatively narrow, less refr; 

 km. sec, both in the directii n 

 This is with reference to Arcturus, • : uncorrected 

 for the component of the earth's motion, which is 

 ven small. In bit. 1 plates thi angible set 



